KRT18 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: In fact, in a study performed in 44 consecutive patients with suspected NAFLD at the time of liver biopsy, plasma CK-18 fragments were markedly increased in patients with NASH compared with patients with simple steatosis or normal biopsies and independently predicted NASH (OR 1.95; 95% CI 1.18–3.22 for every 50 U/L increase) [26].